1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of discriminating, from within a data communication system including a reception side for receiving data and a transmission source for transmitting data, the transmission source on the reception side.
2. Description of the Related Art
When transmitting data from a transmission source device to a reception side device via a network, the reception side device may display, together with the received data, a sender name designated by the user of the transmission source device (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-276651). With this technique, the user on the reception side can identify the transmission source of the data.
In the above-described conventional technique, to display a sender name on the reception side device, it is necessary to receive the sender name given by the user of the transmission source device when the transmission source device transmits data. It is, therefore, difficult for the user on the reception side to specify and manage a transmission source device from which the user can receive data, when the user has not received any data from that specific transmission source device.
A sender name given by the user of the transmission source device is represented within the range of the input/output function of the transmission source device. If the sender name falls outside the range of the input/output function of the reception side device, it is impossible to correctly display the sender name. If, for example, the reception side device does not have fonts corresponding to a character code used in the sender name, the sender name is replaced by alternative characters in the reception side device, and therefore, the receiving user cannot discriminate the sender name.